John Wayne Gacy was responsible for sexually assaulting and killing at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. His gruesome secret was eventually discovered when police found bodies buried beneath his home in Illinois.
The clowns in his artwork could be read as self-portraits, as in his public life Gacy dressed up as a character he called 'Pogo the Clown' at charity events and, chillingly, children's parties. It earned him the nickname 'the Killer Clown'. He was executed in 1994.
(PA)

Artwork by John Wayne Gacy (REX)

A child observes a series of John Wayne Gacy's paintings (REX)

The "most violent prisoner in Britain" Charles Bronson has committed most of his crimes behind bars, where he's been variously responsible for wounding other inmates, attacking prison officers and embarking on rooftop protests.
Bronson is a source of endless fascination in Britain and has been the subject of many books and films. Part of his enigma are his drawings that offer a fairly explicit insight into his state of mind and attitude to life behind bars.
(REX)

By Charles Bronson. Source: artbelow.org.uk

By Charles Bronson. Source: artbelow.org.uk

By Charles Bronson. Source: artbelow.org.uk

By Charles Bronson. Source: artbelow.org.uk

By Charles Bronson. Source: artbelow.org.uk

By Charles Bronson. Source: artbelow.org.uk

Henry Lee Lucas was convicted of 11 different cases of murder and confessed to being involved in 600 murders in total - though he later withdrew this and insisted he 'wasn't a serial killer'. The exact truth of how many and which murders he was responsible for has subsequently become blurred, though the accepted estimate is around 350.Lucas died in prison in 2001, but not before producing some of the more technically accomplished art in this gallery; a couple of peaceful landscapes that defy what people might expect from a disturbed mind - and one snarling demon that is probably exactly what people would expect.(PA)

By Henry Lee Lucas. Source: hafny.org

By Henry Lee Lucas. Source: hafny.org

By Henry Lee Lucas. Source: hafny.org

Canadian-born Keith Hunter Jesperson acquired the nickname the 'Happy Faced Killer' for the smiley faces he drew on his letters to the media while on a killing spree that claimed the lives of eight women over five year in the early 90s. He late claimed to have killed up to 160 people, but only eight were proven.His artwork were crude, quite childish cartoons, including a duck wearing a tie asking 'Who me?' and a devil looking over its shoulder.Source: Courtesy of Riverside County, Calif

By Keith Hunter Jesperson. Source: francesfarmersrevenge.com

By Keith Hunter Jesperson. Source: francesfarmersrevenge.com

By Keith Hunter Jesperson. Source: francesfarmersrevenge.com

By Keith Hunter Jesperson. Source: francesfarmersrevenge.com

Ottis Elwood Toole was responsible for some of the most deranged and reprehensible crime imaginable, from killing to necrophilia to cannabilism. An accomplice of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, the pair confessed to killing hundreds of people in a spree that had no discernable pattern. They targeted victims of all races, genders and age and killed them by a wide variety of methods.Like Jesperson, Toole's artwork was extremely crude and cartoon in style, including one showing eight different versions of the same male face.(PA)

Dubbed the 'Night Stalker' Richard Ramirez is still awating execution on death row in California after killing an estimated 14 people in 1985.His artwork includes skulls, devils and demon-like creatures - is this what you'd typically expect from the mind of a killer? Or does it look more like the drawings of any little boy?(PA)

In 1992, Taiwanese-American student Wayne Lo walked into his college in Massahusetts and opened fire, killing one student and a professor as well as wounding four others. He is currently serving two life sentences.He now has a website on which he sells his embroidered artwork, donating the proceeds to The Galen Gibson Fund, which provides scholarships for high school graduates who want to pursue studies in theatre arts.Source: Supplied

By Wayne Lo. Source: SkidLo.net

By Wayne Lo. Source: SkidLo.net

Arthur John Shawcross killed 14 victims and was also convicted for the manslaughter of two children. He carried out most of his crimes in the state of New York and died in jail in 2008.His artwork differs from the others in this gallery. It's a fantasy landscape featuring a castle and floating planets.(PA)

By Arthur Shawcross (PA)

Comfortably the biggest criminal in the list, Germany dictator Adolf Hitler was responsible for the systematic murder of 11 million people.
He was also a fairly competent painter, as the following slides show.
(PA)

By Adolf Hitler (REX)

By Adolf Hitler (REX)

By Adolf Hitler (REX)

The Krays were huge figures in London organised crime in the 50s and 60s, who were both imprisoned for life in 1969 after being convicted of armed robberies, violent assaults, torture and murder.Defying their hard men image, both were accomplished artists whose work is about to sell at auction for an estimated £15,000.(PA)